Records: Duke warned about pipe that caused Dan River spill

In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 photo, Amy Adams, North Carolina campaign coordinator with Appalachian Voices dips her hand into the Dan River in Danville, Va. as signs of coal ash appear in the river. Duke Energy estimates that up to 82,000 tons of ash has been released from a break in a 48-inch storm water pipe at the Dan River Power Plant in Eden N.C. Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps. Each time, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has effectively halted the lawsuit by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority to take enforcement action. In two cases, the state has proposed modest fines but no requirement that the nation’s largest electricity provider actually clean up the coal ash ponds. The third case is pending. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

By The Associated Press

Published: Thursday, June 19, 2014 at 02:23 PM.

RALEIGH — Records show engineers working for Duke Energy warned the company as early as 1986 that a stormwater pipe running under a North Carolina coal ash dump was made of corrugated metal and needed to be monitored for leaks.

That pipe collapsed in February, triggering a massive spill that coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic gray sludge. Following the disaster, Duke officials said the company didn't know the pipe was made out of metal, believing instead that it had been constructed of more-durable reinforced concrete.

The 28-year-old engineering report was among documents subpoenaed last week from the North Carolina Utilities Commission by federal prosecutors as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the spill.

Duke spokesman Dave Scanzoni declined to comment.

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RALEIGH — Records show engineers working for Duke Energy warned the company as early as 1986 that a stormwater pipe running under a North Carolina coal ash dump was made of corrugated metal and needed to be monitored for leaks.

That pipe collapsed in February, triggering a massive spill that coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic gray sludge. Following the disaster, Duke officials said the company didn't know the pipe was made out of metal, believing instead that it had been constructed of more-durable reinforced concrete.

The 28-year-old engineering report was among documents subpoenaed last week from the North Carolina Utilities Commission by federal prosecutors as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the spill.